V2 Announcements

First Announcement
The first few rays of sunlight had just begun their assault on the night sky as the public access speakers strategically placed across the entire island crackled to life, blaring a loud symphonic melody into the otherwise peaceful atmosphere surrounding the island... peaceful, at least, to the people who weren't being slaughtered there. The blaring music commanded attention, not just from the students-turned-captive prowling the island, but to the viewing audience at home as well. Within moments, however, the melody was drowned out by a voice all too familiar, but still ominous in tone, to the American public.

"Goooood morning, children!"

It was a line that had been uttered ten times over during the first official round of Survival of the Fittest, but it certainly wouldn't be the last time that phrase was heard. On the other side of the public access system, a lone figure sat in a plush chair, carelessly flipping over multiple pages of SOTF data.

"I see you've been busy little beavers. Splendid! Wonderful! Fantastic, even! Such initiative, such gusto! What a way to begin the game! In the past twenty-four hours, twelve of you have died! Splendid, children, simply splendid! You're certainly setting a lightning fast pace for this leg of the game. Oh, but enough about that. I'm sure you're all just ever so curious as to which of your friends have been slaughtered in the first hours of the game, as well as who the killers-in-disguise lurking in your group are. Oops, silly me! I shouldn't have told you that part."

Danya smirked to himself as he rambled into the microphone, however the smile was interrupted by a quick sneeze right into the public access system. With a sniffle and a shake of his head, Danya continued on.

"You'll have to forgive me, children. All this smog gets the better of me at times. Now then, onto those early outs of the game. First to go down was Chad Munteanu, courtesy of Mr. Jonathan Michaels. What heartlessness, even in the beginning of the game! This poor kid came running to Michaels asking for a bit of help... a bit of compassion... a little friendship. Michaels answered by shoving his shotgun down Munteanu's throat and pulling the trigger. Quite the aggressor, that little chihuahua is. Funnily enough, after scoring the first out in the game, he pretty much got beat by a girl. Hear that, Hobbs? Your own Jonathan Michaels, featherweight whats-a-whos-it, got his rear handed to him by one of the island's little ladies!"

"Second to die was Jaime Dibenidetti, courtesy of Miss Mariavel Varella. Apparently there was some bad blood between these two girls. Mariavel slept with Jaime's father, or some kind of teenage drama or another. Who really cares, right? What matters is that Jaime's dead, courtesy of Mariavel's tomahawk. Meanwhile, back at the farm, or rather, at the hotel, Brittany Ashworth met a quite early demise when Paris Persphone decided he wanted a little blood with his breakfast and stabbed her to death in the hallway."

A loud yawn escaped Danya's lips and made its way through the broadcast system, indicating just how little he cared for the fact that he was reading off the names of former students turned corpses. Then again, this wasn't the first time Danya had orchestrated a program like this. The lives of the students dying meant very little to him. It was the reasoning behind the program -- the deep-rooted shot at the American government -- in which he found enjoyment.

"Fourth to die was Brad Wilson, in Mr. Michaels's second kill of the day. If you want my opinion, Brad got what he deserved. Who in their right mind slips a recovering... he WAS recovering, wasn't he? Oh, who cares. Drug addict some LSD? Brad paid for that mistake with his life. Fifth to die was Dan Birch, courtesy of Bryan Calvert. What started out as Bryan simply looking for a place to rest ended with him testing out that shotgun on Dan. Reflex or not, Calvert, you still killed him. Now you get to live with that."

As he uttered the words, he didn't sound cold and cruel, as though stating a harsh fact of life. No, instead, Danya sounded almost giddy about the entire ordeal.

"Once upon a time, kids, there were three students lurking around the hotel. One was named Franco Sebberts, one was named Marvin Hendrick, and one was named Russ Gofis. For about... half a second, these three were allies. Then, Russ assisted Franco in killing Marvin. Fun little story, isn't it? This next one..."

For just a moment, Danya erupted in a fit of laughter, his voice booming through the speakers as he did so. He continued to laugh loudly for almost a minute straight before sniffling and, unbenowst to the students, wiping away a tear from having laughed so hard.

"Oh, number seven was just terrific kids. Listen closely, you're going to get a kick out of this one. You know how we sort of... threw you all out of helicopters at the beginning of the game? Well... apparently, my colleagues need to be a bit more careful from now on. Seventh to die was Jameson Doeert. It seems that we... well... broke him."

Danya's laughter continued for a moment longer, it slowly turning into a soft snicker at the fact that Jameson had died as soon as he hit the ground. Taking a moment to contain himself, his eyes scanned down the list a bit further before stopping on the eighth death of the day.

"Blake Ross!" Danya practically yelled into the microphone, "I commend you, good sir! Mr. Ross eliminated Gregory Moyer from the competition, you see. With a bible, no less! It had all the makings of a great horror movie! The crazy psychopath attacks the hero, but the hero valiantly fights him off! Except, THIS time, the hero wins and uses his bible to impale his victim's head on a saddle hook! Bravo, Ross."

So the death was an accident. So what? The students sure didn't know that, now did they?

"Moving onward, Preston Grey was ninth to die, falling to the hand of Paris Persphone. So cliché. Preston tried to play hero and fell to Paris, who seems to think he's some stone-cold killer or something. Either way, that's two for Persphone. Meanwhile, down in the deep, dark sewers, Adrian Gray was busy killing Joshua Moore, making him our tenth to fall. Number eleven to die was Caitlin Evans and... well, we aren't quite sure WHAT happened here. Quite the odd situation, indeed. Did you know that humans could sponanteously combust, children? We were going to detonate her collar, just for fun, but it seems Mother Nature and Natural Selection beat us to it."

"And finally, I bring you to number twelve on the list. He was some Hobbsborough kid by the name of Jin Li-Jen, and apparently he had really bad breath, but that's pretty irrelevant. His killer, Walter Smith, really did a bang-up job with this one. You should all take a page from Mr. Smith's book. This kid was issued a rock for a weapon at the beginning of the game, but it sure didn't stop him! He made a makeshift knife, found Mr. Li-Jen in the hotel, and the rest, well, I'll leave to your imagination. Let's just say that the corpse will be reeking of something other than bad breath now if you happen upon it."

Danya smiled smugly as he recited the details of Jin Li-Jen's death at the hands of Walter Smith. Steven had informed him that Walter would probably be quite the spitfire in the game, having known the Smith family relatively well, and so far, he wasn't failing to disappoint. After another stifled yawn, Danya cleared his throat into the microphone and continued on.

"So, what's next on today's agenda, you ask? Dangerzones. I'm noticing that several of you are banding together, trying to hide out. So, let's stir things up a bit, shall we? The first dangerzone will be the Schoolhouse. The second one? The Lighthouse. Third, the Church. Finally, one more dangerzone to spice things up a bit, the Pagoda. Run, kids! Run! You don't have much time to get out!"

Danya chuckled slightly at the thought of the students in those areas making a mad dash as far away as possible. To him, the whole game was quite amusing, to say the least. As if something finally dawned on him, Danya once again clasped the microphone he was speaking into, his eyes alighting as he did so.

"Oh yes! I almost forgot! I think you all will get quite the kick out of this. See, apparently the boys in the office were getting a little bored with you all, or something, so they decided to vote for their favorite killer! Exciting, isn't it? Well, normally I'm not a very generous person, so I wouldn't do this, but I sort of figured what the hell, let's mix it up some more, you know? Boy #2 and Boy #30, report to the marina as soon as possible. You two -- I won't refer to you by name for the sake of anonymity, because you know, the boys in the office like you. You two tied as winner of this little office contest, and so, because we really aren't completely heartless, we're going to give you a brand new prize to terrorize the island with! Head on over, don't dawdle, now! Collars for Boy #2 and Boy #30 ONLY will be deactivated just long enough for them to pick up their prize. Anyone else entering the marina at this time will face automatic detonation. Sound good?"

With that, Danya's voice faded from the public access system and the obnoxious music that echoed across the island at the beginning of the announcement began bellowing once more. In his chair, Danya hummed along with the music, his hand connecting with the chair in a soft drumming rhythm every few moments. It was a great start to another great game, indeed.

Second Announcement
The noise of rapidly moving fingers dancing across a computer keyboard seemed to echo throughout the base which the terrorists had occupied in order to initiate the SOTF V2 program. The man behind the keyboard -- a timid man with thick glasses -- continued to type rapidly, the worried expression on his face becoming more and more apparent with time.

"... Miss Nguyen?" the man muttered hesitantly after a moment longer, causing the bespectacled Asian woman sitting at a nearby desk to cast him an annoyed glance.

"Yes?"

Her response came more as a growl than an actual inquiry. The man removed the headphones from his ears momentarily and motioned toward the computer monitor in front of him which was, surprisingly, not monitoring the Survival of the Fittest competition, but rather, the weather. Sonia Nguyen rose from her desk and idly strode over to the monitor, staring at it with a mild amount of curiosity.

"W-we should t-t-tell the boss, right?"

A swift right hand collided with the back of the soldier's head, causing him to yelp, more in surprise than pain. When they'd planned the second Survival of the Fittest project, they thought they had taken everything into account. It seemed that the only thing that hadn't really been taken into consideration was inclimate weather. Sonia swooped her cell phone off of the desk she'd been sitting idly in and headed out the door. The soldier, meanwhile, continued to monitor the rather large storm cell that was approaching the island...

For the second time on the island, the public access systems placed across the area sparked to life, once again blaring a lively, probably unrecognizable melody. The clearing of a man's throat was heard before Mr. Danya erupted in a prolonged fit of coughing into the microphone. After a sniffle, he cleared his throat once again and began.

"Terribly sorry about that, children. This is truly such a dirty country, filled with smog and pollution. Not like in the homeland, no. As you can imagine, the filth and grime does a number on my sinuses. Or perhaps, I'm just allergic to Americans."

He sniffled again and seemed to stifle a sneeze.

"But you're not my doctors, and we're not here to talk about my allergies, now are we? For those of you who're already beginning to lose it and have somehow lost track of time, I'd like to congratulate you all for surviving this long. We're approaching Day Three of your little endeavor, and if I had my guess about it, the island is starting to reek just a little bit. I thought we'd gotten off to a lightning fast start on the first day, but you all have surprised even me. Yesterday on the island, I'd like to inform you all that a whopping eighteen of your peers were brutally murdered. Eighteen, children. You're all quite the bloodthirsty little pack, aren't you?"

Danya paused long enough to shuffle some of the papers that were apparently sitting on his desk. One could only assume that those papers contained his "important" information, such as a list of the dead.

"Maybe bloodthirsty isn't the right word..." he continued on, his eyebrows raising in mild amusement as he read over the data, "Pop quiz, children. What is a dangerzone? Is it not self-explanatory that if you linger in a DANGERzone for a prolonged amount of time, that your life will be in DANGER? Perhaps for the next game, I'll call them stay-here-too-long-and-you-blow-up-zones. Perhaps that'll convey the message just a little better, you think?"

He sighed and, unbenowst to the children on the island, shook his head slightly.

"Regardless. The first of the day to die was Tanesha Lexx. Now, RIGHT after I announced that the pagoda was going to be a dangerzone, this ignorant tart headed right for it. As one could expect, she blew up. Kasumi White wasn't too far behind her. She lingered in the church, searching for her beloved. It's called Survival of the Fittest for a reason, kids, and this little girl couldn't function without her little boyfriend, so we did her a favor. Those of you who're so bent on searching for those special someone's out there might want to keep that in mind. Third to die was Laura Diesen. Apparently the way to rebel against this game is to kill yourself instead of dying by another student's hand. Whatever. As long as you're dead at the end of the day, it's no skin off my back."

"That's three down, fifteen more to go, kids. I hope you're writing this down. Fourth to die was Randy Blailocke. It would seem he fell asleep in a dangerzone, or something to that effect. Honestly now. Number five was Jordan McKiernan. This was sort of a tag team death by both Bryan Calvert and Tori Johnson, but Mr. Calvert WAS ultimately the one who killed him. Hear that, Tori? You're 0-1 baby, you've gotta catch up. Number six was Lester Treskington, who was maimed, mangled, and murdered by Oliver Dodd. Number seven? Mary-Anne Robinson. Pity, she was a cute one. She met her end at the hands of Harry Constantine. Number eight to die was Wanda Lovett, just another poor soul who thought she could beat the game by eliminating herself from it."

He wasn't even halfway through the list yet and already, he was getting bored. Sure, a lot of people had died on day two, and it was more or less a success, but even Danya was disgusted at the stupidity with which some of the students lost their lives. He supposed that was the trouble with high school students.

"Moving along, number nine was Matthew Lafferty, killed by Andi Ayala. Number ten... huh. Number ten was Eric Silvstedt, killed by his own best friend, Ricky Callahan. It was a story... about a girl, it seems. Mr. Callahan eliminated his own best friend from the game in an attempt to save some girl's life. That's almost... romantic. Almost."

Laughter from the thought of it erupted in the microphone and Danya inevitably let out a snort before he finally stopped laughing and cleared his throat. This smog really was killing him. This country was so very nasty, not like the homecountry at all.

"Eleventh to die was Nessy Guthrie. It seems Steven Smith took Porky Pig to the slaughterhouse or something. Hahaha. Not really, but it's more interesting than what really happened. Twelfth, and this is a bit of a shocker, was one of my personal favorites, Mr. Jonathan Michaels. I'm disappointed, I must say. After being one of the top killers on Day One, Mr. Michaels met his end at the hands of twelve-year-old Brandon Cuthbert. Quite pathetic. Thirteenth to die was Christian Cohen, also at the hands of little Brandon. Now, it's becoming an issue of pride, kids. The twelve-year-old kid is doing better than some of you. Better catch up."

Before Danya could continue with the announcement, the door behind him squealed open quietly and a soldier stepped through. Danya swung around, the irritation at being interrupted quite apparent on his features as he looked at the soldier. The man held up some more papers, and Danya waved him closer, jerking the papers from his grasp before pointing toward the door. Although he wasn't facing the microphone, his yelling was still audible in the PA system.

"Thank you, now I believe I told you NOT TO INTERRUPT ME WHILE I'M DOING MY ANNOUNCEMENTS!"

"S-s-sorry sir!"

"Wonderful, now get out."

The sound of the door clicking shut again was audible in the silence that followed, and Danya once again let out a cough before turning back toward the microphone.

"Sorry about that, apparently some people don't understand what do not disturb means. Moving along... where was I? Oh yes. Fourteenth to die was Melanie DeSilva, courtesy of one of our lovely little farm ladies, Miss Debrah Dollop. Fifteenth was Darren Oaklan in the third... third? Yes, third death by Paris Persphone. Sixteenth was Lance Adams, falling not too long after his beloved Kasumi, at the hands of island psychopath Marimar Perez. You guys should meet this girl, she's a real trip. Number seventeen was Nich Finlayson, and you don't know how glad I am of that. I must thank the lovely Miss Mariavel Varella for ridding us of another punk. Finally, eighteenth to die was Sylvea Hill. She really stood no chance in comparison to Vesa Turunen, and that's why it's called Survival of the Fittest."

It was then that Danya finally stopped to look at the piece of paper the soldier had handed him, and his face alighted in a smile of mild amusement.

"I've got some more news, children. We'll be switching dangerzones today, because spontaneity is exciting. So, as of now, consider the pagoda, church, lighthouse, and... oh, that other place... the, the... um... ah yes! The school building! Consider those areas cleared as of now. There will be three new dangerzones. The forest, the hospital, and the hotel. If you're in the area... and from what I hear, a lot of you are in the area, I'd suggest you start running now, lest we have to make an example of more of you."

Danya chuckled to himself. He had always enjoyed the dangerzones and the sheer amount of panic that ensued whenever he placed another one into effect. Some of his terroristic team had questioned him when he decided to clear the buildings of their dangerzone status, but he wasn't a completely heartless man. A storm was rolling in, and it was the very least he could do to let them murder one another over shelter.

"Now then, those of you who aren't running for your lives would do good to listen, because I've got just a little bit more to report to you all. After the past success of our little office poll, and yes, it was QUITE entertaining watching Boy #30 get mugged by Boy #2, we've decided to do it again this round. Once again, the winner is a guy. Ladies, you're going to have to play some major catch-up. That's three for three the guys have on you. Anyway, Boy #27, you know who you are, you've won our office poll this time around, and you know what that means. Head down to the marina to pick up your prize! The area will be off-limits to anyone except Boy #27 until his prize is retrieved, so the rest of you would do good to stay away, or at least hide a considerable distance away in the bushes and ambush him while he leaves! Oh dear, I'm giving you all ideas, aren't I?"

"One more thing, little warriors! I'm sure you've all noticed that it's starting to drizzle outside, but the worst is yet to come! The command center has informed me that you're all going to be in for a rough ride over the next day or two, because that drizzle is going to turn into one hell of a thunderstorm. Now, aren't you glad I gave you some shelter to fight over... I mean, hide in? Run for cover, little warriors! Run for cover!"

Danya snickered to himself as he flicked the microphone off and rose from the desk he'd been leaned up against. The change in weather was certain to make things more interesting for the next day or two. After all, everyone gets a little stir-crazy during thunderstorms, especially when they're stuck outside and surrounded by murderers... or so he would imagine. Danya exited the compact room he had been sitting in and walked down a long hallway. As he emerged from the nondescript building he'd been lurking in, he couldn't help but halfway smile as the sun began to rise over the Lincoln Memorial. For a moment, he couldn't help but think that the Americans truly didn't realize what they had. Today... was gonna be a hell of a day.

Third Announcement
For the third time since the beginning mark of the SOTF ACT, the speakers sprawled across the island crackled to life, blaring the same hauntingly happy tune that they had played on day one. A very distinct voice, one the children should've come to know on an almost personal level by now, hummed along in tune with the song for a moment before stopping.

"Good morning, kids!" the usual greeting came out, "But then, there's really nothing good about it, is there? It's pouring out there, little warriors, and I do so hate to be the bearer of bad news, but it looks like the worst is yet to come. This is one hell of a storm. Makes me glad I'm nice and cozy in my warm, dry office. But it stinks for you guys, doesn't it?"

Danya grinned to himself. It had rained during the first program too, and he couldn't help but recollect how they'd lost several of the camera feeds during that storm. Hopefully, they had fixed that problem. Besides, from where he was, the weather wasn't an issue.

"On to business, I suppose. We only had fourteen deaths yesterday, but I guess I can forgive you all this time since you're fighting it out in such horrible conditions. So, on to the deaths."

Truth be told, Danya had had some quite pressing matters to attend to yesterday. Conferences, threats, demands, that whole schpeil, and so he had more or less missed the entirety of yesterday's program. Oh well.

"The first to die was Derrin Istoli, killed by Chiaki Takao. Second down was Mr. Zachary Foreman, though I think he prefered to be called some geeky video game name like Zaid or something. He got shot up by Bryan Calvert. I have to tell you, Mr. Calvert, you've been giving us quite the performance over these past few days. Bravo. Third down was Okalani Shimane, who must've had some sort of emo fit of rage or something. She decided to hang out in a dangerzone to see what would happen. I'm sure you all can determine the outcome for yourselves."

What was with these kids, anyway? So many kept lingering in the dangerzones. It was like watching lemurs run themselves off of cliffs or something.

"Fourth down was Jackie Kovacs, courtesy of the one and only Felix Travertil. Fifth to die was Stacy Holorson, courtesy of Franco Sebberts. You guys should head over to the mall and check out the aftermath of this one, it was a quite interesting little death. Number six was Adrian Gray. Let's just say the Gods must've hated him, because he fell off the dam. We don't know if he died on impact or if he drowned in the river water, and quite frankly, none of us care enough to find out."

What? It was the truth. Danya had a couple personal favorites in this game, sure. He even had a couple bets riding on a few of the players, not that he'd ever tell who. Still, in the grand scheme of things, the game wasn't even a quarter of the way over yet. Looking at it like that, it made the deaths feel very insignificant.

"Number seven was Alexander Bee. It would seem that somehow, his collar detonated itself. Isn't that terrible, kids? Mr. Bee was toting around a claymore mine in his backpack, so it's actually very good for all of you that the "unfortunate" incident occurred. When Alexander went kaboom, the claymore set itself off and killed Gigi Sinclaire and Satoru Kamui -- that's number eight and nine for those of you keeping track -- in the blast."

"Tenth to die was Anthony Ainsworth, killed by Penelope Withers. Eleventh? Kyle Rizea, also blown to bits by Bryan Calvert. Keep up the good work, kid. Twelfth down was Jack Russell, sliced and diced by his best friend, Mai Oshinari. Miss Oshinari eliminated herself from the competition right after, making her the thirteenth to die. Pity, I like asian girls."

He knew that comment would probably send a student or two writhing in disgust. He enjoyed it that way. It was fun to mess with them a little bit, get into their heads, make them think they knew him. The great part was, none of them really knew anything at all.

"Finally, last but not least was Lavender Heart. It's quite the love story, you know. Lavender sought out her best friend, but was wounded by Stephanie Crew during her search. Valiantly, Lavender continued on, struggling across the island until she finally found the beautiful Miss Mariavel Varella. Lavender died in her arms, after confessing her love to Mariavel."

He even let out a fake sob and sniffle as he told the story. Mr. Danya had to admit, he was quite the actor. Well, maybe not.

"So very, very tragic. But so very, very good for ratings. It's just a shame they didn't find one another before. I'd have loved to see another lovely lesbian couple running around the island. God knows I enjoyed the ones we had in the last game. I'm sure Mariavel would've gone for it, too. After all, every guy she's run into across the island has molested her, or at least tried to. It's all right, Miss Varella. You're bigger than most porn stars these days because of it, so you should really be thanking them!"

It was sick, it was twisted, and if by some twist of fate Mariavel won Survival of the Fittest, she'd probably leave him, much like the winner of the first competition, with a scar that he wouldn't soon forget. Still, he couldn't help but poke fun at her. It just got them angry and riled up, and inevitably, that made them all the more likely to rampage out of control. Danya wouldn't be in the way, but the other students definitely would.

"So, now that that's out of the way, we should move on to more pressing matters, yes yes? Dangerzones. As of right now, the forest, hospital, and hotel are cleared and you may now re-enter them. Today's dangerzones will be the residential district, the mall, and the industrial district. If you're lingering in any of these areas, I'd suggest you make a mad dash for your lives right about now."

Was that it?

"O-oh yes! Just one more thing! I nearly forgot, silly me. Hahaha. The office poll! Once again, everyone here voted, and we had a tie for our favorite kill. Boy #2, once again, we're loving your work up here. We'd like you to head toward the marina to pick up your prize. Girl #25, congratulations. You're the first girl to win one of these polls, so head on over to the marina as well for your reward. One more thing, kids. Once Boy #2 and Girl #25 leave the marina, it will NOT be reopened for re-entry. We've decided to close it off permanently. Nobody but the winners of these contests will have access. It sounded pretty good to us. But hey, look on the bright side. It doesn't mean that you can't stalk them on the beach, does it?"

He smiled to himself. Slowly but surely, the gears were beginning to turn and set things in motion. Everything was falling into place once again, and soon, America really would be purged. Just like it was supposed to be.

"Stay dry, little warriors, but don't stop killing! We've got nearly fifty down, but this game is far from over. Do what you have to to win. Lie, cheat, deceive, backstab. Murder them in their sleep if you have to. Survival of the Fittest, kids. The fit will survive, the weak must die. Don't forget why you're here, and keep the blood flowing!"

Fourth Announcement
Five long, harsh days on the island had had a profound impact on almost everybody in the area. Everybody, that is, except for Mr. Danya and his entourage of terrorists. Now, the slightly heavy man once again sat in the plush chair of his office, preparing once again to make an announcement concerning the fates of the children on the island. Day four hadn't been particularly impressive, by any means. The storm had been a large deterrent in killing, it seemed. However, Danya couldn't help but be overjoyed that he was finally back home. His trip hadn't been a pleasant one, needless to say.

The rain had finally come to a halt on the island after two long days, although the clouds had yet to completely disappear. Instead of pouring rain, the entirety of the island was now covered in a dense fog, making it hard for even the cameras stationed around the island to catch a glimpse of the action that could've been going on. Danya grimaced slightly. How was the viewing audience at home supposed to enjoy the show when they couldn't see it? Still, perhaps it was better that way, for now. The intense winds of the thunderstorm that had billowed through had knocked many of the cameras loose, if not shut them down completely. What an utter nuisance.

"Mr. Danya, s-sir?" the trembling voice of Dorian spoke up, throwing Danya from his reverie.

"What do you want, Dorian?"

"I hate to be the bearer of bad news, sir, but we're having problems with the cameras again. We're getting nothing but static from most of them. The only ones picking up signal are the ones inside the buildings. Nearly all of the outdoor cameras are down."

"And?" Danya interjected carelessly.

"W-well sir... we're working on getting the links back up, but... but I think some of them are gonna have to be fixed from the island itself."

Danya shrugged lightly, "So why're you telling me this, Dorian? If that's what needs to be done, assemble a team and do it. You're good with computers, aren't you? Go yourself."

"Sir?"

Dorian tried to hide the fact that he was trembling visibly. He didn't even want to participate in this hellish program. Not after the first one. Now, Danya was trying to send him out onto the island to fix camera signals. It was like the man was signing his own death sentence with not a care in the world. It made Dorian angry, but he was resigned to his fate. He let out a light sigh. Perhaps it wouldn't be too bad. He could assemble a team of soldiers and head out under the cover of the fog.

"Get a move on," Danya huffed, "I've got an announcement to make, you know. You're taking up valuable time."

"Yes sir. Sorry sir. I'll be heading out shortly to fix the cameras."

"Good morning, boys and girls!" five days in a row, the same greeting had blared through the PA systems spread across the island. The rain had messed with the speakers a bit, making the announcement scratchy, but still audible, "I take it you're all glad to see that the storm is finally over. Then again, with all that fog out there, I bet it's pretty hard to see much of anything, isn't it? Well, let's get on with it, then. Fourteen people died over the course of yesterday, which isn't tremendous, I must admit. Still, I guess I can cut you guys a little bit of slack, the weather was pretty bad. First on the list of the dead is Annabelle Buchannon. Apparently, Miss Buchannon got fed up with the game and decided to hang out in the Industrial District till we blew her up. Pity."

"Second to die was Russ Gofis. Our infamous Boy #2 had the right idea when it came to Mr. Gofis, and simply used him as an expendable asset. It seems they were looking for supplies in the mall before it became a dangerzone when Mr. Gofis got pinned under a shelf. His allies left him for dead. At least they left him a gun, so Russell shot himself rather than allowing his collar to be detonated. Number three to die was Adam Amato. He found himself on the wrong side of Brandon Cuthbert's shotgun, it seems. Fourth to die was Brandon Cuthbert, who was killed by Sera Wingfield right after offing Adam Amato. Fifth to die was Edgar Judah. What a pity, after having his brother on the last show, I was almost rooting for little Edgar. He was killed by Dan Johnson, who injected air into his heart with a syringe. I hear that's painful."

"Moving right along, number six was Andrew Ponikarovsky. Apparently, Mr. Ponikarovsky hijacked a car on the island and was aimlessly driving around... at least till he nearly hit a student on the expressway and rolled the vehicle in an attempt to avoid her. The accident, of course, killed him. What a complete idiot. He should've just ran her over. Then, not only would he still be alive, but he would've gotten credit for her death! Number seven to die was Alex Ovechkin who was shot with his own gun by Mariavel Varella. Miss Varella proceeded to finish off Rupert Stockton next, giving her two kills for the day. Ninth to die? Alice Nichols, eliminated from the competition by Roland Kelly. Number ten was Shae Arnav, axed by Bryan Calvert while trying to cannibalize one of the island's many corpses. Eleventh to die was Steven Smith. Mr. Smith died at the hands of Matthew Drew. Congratulations on your first kill, Mr. Drew! Twelfth down was Andrew Swainson, offed by Peter Rosenthal for being at the wrong place at the wrong time and walking in on something very... shall we say, intimate. Last, but not least, killed by Mr. Damien Carter-Madison, the final student to die yesterday was Eli McConnell."

Danya sighed lightly. This game was going to rival the first one in tems of length, it seemed. Slowly but surely, though, it was getting down to the wire. He supposed it was time to start fencing them in.

"Now then... dangerzones. The residential district, industrial area, and the mall are now cleared and you can once again access them. This time, though, we're going to have a whopping five dangerzones, and they'll be permanent. What's that mean, kids? That means we're getting down to the wire here. From now on, the mansion ruins, the mountain ranch, the wheat field, the cliffs, and the farmhouse will no longer be accessible to any of you. If you're there, I'd suggest clearing out immediately, and don't plan on coming back."

A light smirk passed over his face. He'd force them all into the center of the island. It was sure to be a bloodbath.

"Just one last thing. It's prize time for a very lucky little person out there on the island! Boy #12, we like your work! We like your work very, very much! Head on over to the marina and pick up your prize! ... Well children, I suppose that's all for today. I expect you to rack up quite the count today. Not only has it stopped raining, but you've got the cover of fog to work under, so get to murdering the competition. About half of you remain, and with every one that dies, you increase your own chances of survival. Remember that. Good luck, kids! Keep on keepin' on, and all that jazz!"

With that, Danya shut off the public access system and rested his head in his hands. Dorian just had to ruin his victorious return with that bad news about the cameras. Still, what the students didn't know wouldn't hurt them. Besides, they'd be sending a team to take care of the downed cameras soon enough. It was just a matter of getting the links back up and seeing which cameras were actually out...

Fifth Announcement
The birds were singing, the bees were buzzing, and Mr. Danya sat in his plush chair, humming giddily to himself as he looked over the information concerning the morning announcement. He had to admit to himself that the children taken for this version of the game were a much more brutal lot than the ones from Barry Coleson had been. Fifteen murders had taken place over the past day. There were a lot of them, but they worked fast. Such a bloodthirsty lot, they were.

He coughed momentarily and let out a sniffle. This summer wasn't treating him very kindly. Still, he wouldn't let that interfere with his work. Once again, it was time for the dreaded morning announcement. It was a passtime Danya took pleasure in. He grinned from ear to ear as he once again looked over his list and flipped the switch on the microphone sitting near him.

"Good morning, children, and what a beautiful morning it is! Just take a look at this gorgeous weather we're having today! No rain, no fog, just a couple mud puddles on the ground and it's all sunshine and butterflies from here on out! Of course... it's getting down to the wire, so maybe you guys are a little too busy fighting for you lives to worry about the weather. Either way, it's irrelevant. Let's get on to the good stuff.

I must admit, I'm proud of you all. You're such an improvement over our last contestants. I've never seen more hate-filled, bloodthirsty kids than you guys. Let's get on with my good ole' list of the deceased, and you'll see what I'm talking about. The first death of yesterday was Miss Lee-Ann Collier. Let this be a lesson to all of you out there. Lee-Ann teamed up with a Mr. Sam Sorenson out on the island. She thought he was her ally. He just wanted a piece of ass. A dead one, at that. Apparently, Mr. Sorenson liked the quiet ones, if you get what I mean. Either way, he wound up trying to strangle her and take advantage of her, so in true coward's fashion, Lee-Ann detonated her collar.

Fascinating, isn't it? The second death of yesterday was a true tragedy indeed. Deliah Dollop was finally reunited with her sister Debrah. I guess the pressure of the game got to her or something, because Deliah wound up having a miscarriage here on the island. Oh so tragic. Her sister wigged out and chopped her up with an axe after she found out about the pregnancy. I think that's what they call taking sisterly love a little bit too far.

Third to die was Sarah Dao. It seems that Sarah was trying to, how to put it? Get her freak on with one of the random guys on the island, and Mr. Robert Adams walked up on them. Sarah tried to kill him. She, obviously, lost. Fourth and fifth to die were Seth Malvice and Walter Smith, killed by a personal favorite of mine, Miss Mariavel Varella. Seth just seemed to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, but with Walter, it was so much more personal. Almost... intimate, even, eh Mariavel? Apparently the sex was really bad or something. Shame, Mariavel struck me as the sort of person who liked it rough. Either way, they're both dead, and she's still kicking.

Number six was Burton Harris. He and Chiaki Takao wound up mixing it up, but when the area they were in became a dangerzone, Chiaki had enough sense to get the hell out. Burton, however, didn't. Collar detonation for him. BOOM!"

Danya laughed audibly for a moment before continuing.

"Now then, seventh to die was another personal favorite of mine, An Linh Tuan. Miss Tuan had kept a pretty low profile on the island since mixing it up with Jonathan Michaels way back on Day One. Least, she kept a low profile until she ran into Blake Ross. It was love at first sight, or something like that. Apparently, Blake likes to get rough, ladies. He wound up throwing the poor girl through a window and killing her. I must say, Mr. Ross... kinky. Eighth down was John Matthews. After Jackie Kovacs died several days ago, John swore revenge on his murderer, Felix Travertil. Well, needless to say, John didn't get his revenge. Felix just added another to his kill count.

Number nine to die was quite the little angel. Maggie Heartgreeder stumbled onto a downed powerline in the residential area after the storm blew through. It killed her on contact. See, kids? Even the island is out to get you. Tenth and eleventh down were Cathalie Meguro and Mitch Gunther, offed by Mr. Franco Sebberts. Two more points for Franco. He's giving Mariavel a run for her money when it comes to murdering you all. Next, my favorite necrophiliac, Sam Sorenson, was killed off by Huy Tran when he tried to kill Anna Dibenidetti. So heroic, Mr. Tran. Jenna Cassidy was thirteenth to die, killed by Stephanie Crew. Mr. Roland Kelly finally put his name on the map when he scored kill number fourteen, Mihiro Duli. Finally, last but certainly not least, Mr. Damien Carter-Madison, doormat for everyone at Gilroy Academy, was responsible for the last death of the day, Kristey Burrowell."

The coldness in his voice was apparent as he announced the dead and their murderers. After all, they were just names on a page.

"A few more things before I bid you adieu, children. Damien! Damester! The Dame! We like you, kid. We like you and Huy Tran. Oops, I wasn't supposed to announce your names, was I? That whole anonymity thing, right? Hm... I believe the expression is, my bad? Head on down to the marina, kids. We'll give you something worth your while. Also. Dangerzones. You knew it was coming, kids. The lighthouse, pagoda, and church will join the mountain ranch, cliffs, farmhouse, wheat field, and mansion ruins as dangerzones. The island is shrinking, kids. Are you getting nervous yet? Over and out, guys!"

Sixth Announcement
Seven days. Seven days could be many things. It could be one week. It could be 168 hours. It could be 604,800 seconds. To the students of P.J. Gilroy Academy, Hobbsborough High School, Franklyn Senior High School, and Bathurst High, the past seven days had been the longest week of their lives. Abducted from their respective school trips and forced to go on an island-wide killing spree, by this point in the game, most of them... had not survived. Mr. Danya took much pleasure in this fact. As it stood, 87 of the 118 students abducted had died. That left thirty more for dead before a winner was announced.

"Dun, dun, dun... another one bites the dust!" he sang to himself as he sat in his plush office chair.

He couldn't help but feel a bit giddy. After all, the second game of Survival of the Fittest was drawing to a close. The competition was getting fiercer by the moment, and ratings were through the roof. Not surprisingly, the filthy Americans had taken to turning a profit from the deaths of these students once again, a fact illustrated by the supposed autobiography of Walter Smith that lay on his desk. Of course he'd shelled out the money for it. He'd been quite the fan of Walter's, after all.

A loud beep resounded from his watch, indicating that once again, it was time to provide doom and gloom to the island by announcing who had died, who was left, what the odds were, and all that jazz. Plus, he was quite excited about the fact that they had a brand new face on the prize list... somebody none of the terrorists had encountered yet. Somebody who thought... this truly was a game. Oh, the look on her face when she found out she'd really killed someone. It was priceless... simply priceless.

--

The first chords of the 1980 song from the band Queen boomed out across the island, so loud that it even startled some of the remaining wildlife. Danya enjoyed the song, you see, so he felt the need to share it with the remaining contestants. Besides, it was just a small reminder to them that the game was progressing, people were dying, and they were drawing closer and closer to another winner of another competition.

"Good morning children!" he called out, "It's day seven!"

A wide grin appeared on his features before he brought the microphone up onto his mouth and added in a whisper, "Seven days..."

A laugh followed his remark before he seemed to be back to his chipper, cheerful self, "I loved that movie, don't you all? But anyway, I suppose we should get down to business here. I'm sure you're all itching to know who bit the dust yesterday. Fifteen more students died, bringing our total to 87 down, 30 to go. Keep on killing, kids! First to die was Harry Constantine, killed by Mr. Bryan Calvert. Second down was Ernest Decarteret, offed by Marimar Perez. It was a very gorey day at the hotel, indeed. Next to fall was Michael Neely, eliminated by Mariavel Varella. Marimar Perez was next to fall, killed by Carmen Somerset. Carmen Somerset died immediately after at the hands of Mariavel Varella. Lots of action going on at the hotel, as you can see. Varella was on somewhat of a warpath."

"Venus Gwendolyn was next to die. Guess she just couldn't handle the pressure of the game, so she offed herself and saved you all the trouble. Next down? Licinia Vinici, eliminated by Paris Persphone. Paris sort of disappeared into the shadows for a while, but he seems to be back in action. Franco Sebberts scored the next kill by eliminating his own traveling companion, Nathan Godwin. Just goes to show you that you can't trust anybody in the game. Stephanie Crew died next. One minute, she was fine. The next, she was using Matthew Drew's gun to blow her brains out. The next to die was at the hands of Miss Elizabeth Ebert. You're quite the actress, Miss Ebert. Congratulations on killing Penelope Withers. We enjoyed your scene very, very much."

A grin played across Danya's features at the naiveté of the young girl.

"Matthias Kovalenko is next on our list of the dead, killed by the beautiful Miss Varella. Oh, but where's that sister of his? Dan Johnson died next at the hands of Roland Kelly. Be careful, Mr. Kelly. You seem to be killing off everyone except your target. Next down was Debrah Dollop, killed by Vesa Turunen. Hear that, Mr. Turunen? You got the wrong girl. You murdered an innocent young lady... well, perhaps she wasn't innocent, she DID chop her sister up with an axe. Still, your girl's at large and your friend? Quite dead."

"Fourteenth down was Chiaki Takao, eliminated by an office favorite, Franco Sebberts. Better watch this one, folks, he's got quite the ruthless streak. Last, but certainly not least, number fifteen to die was Kevin Kapustiak, eliminated in a sneak attack by Rob Adams. Bravo, Mr. Adams. You're one of the few that seems to understand that honor and respect have no place here. After all, you DID shoot a guy in the back of the head."

Danya chuckled to himself for a moment before continuing.

"Now then... dangerzones. In addition to all the other dangerzones, we'll set up three more for this leg of the game. The forest, the sewers, and the river are now permanent dangerzones. That brings me to my final announcement of the day, our contest winner! Elizabeth Ebert, congratulations darling! We love you, we like what you do... so much so that we're going to give you a prize for killing Penelope. Head on down to the marina to pick it up, and don't dawdle, dear. Keep on killing, kids! Keep on killing!"

Danya's voice faded off of the public access system and was once again replaced by the Queen song. Danya hoped beyond hope that by the end of the day, perhaps they'd be down to the final ten.

Seventh Announcement
"Na na na na, na na na na, hey hey hey, goodbye!"

It wasn't the original song. In fact, it was sung a capella, not to mention totally off key.

"Na na na na, na na na na, hey hey hey, GOODBYE!"

It was louder this time, booming throughout the island's speaker system and shattering everything in its wake. The earsplitting chord of music was followed by audible laughter. First a light chuckle, the laughter quickly erupted into a full-on roar, followed by a couple sniffles -- the sound of a man trying to calm himself.

The sound of drinking could be heard over the system before the cup he was drinking from slammed onto the table with a thud and Danya let out a refreshed sigh. Apparently, things were going well for the big man orchestrating SOTF. He was in quite the chipper mood. He sat in his big, plush chair, with his feet propped up on his desk, ruffling through the papers containing data on the previous day of SOTF.

"My, my, my. I'm pleased, you vile little murderers. I must congratulate you. It's day eight, and the numbers are dwindling. Drastically. In fact, we're two days ahead of schedule! You're slaughtering one another MUCH faster than our last group of kids, and I've got to tell you, we're at no loss for some killer scenes. Get it? Killer? Bahaha."

"So, I suppose you want to know who killed who this time and all that jazz, right? Well, I suppose I can oblige. Paris Persphone -- that's right, the notorious Paris who we thought would be a big game motivator at the beginning -- he pussied out and killed himself at the beginning of the day. Pathetic, really. Next to die was Zilya Merchenkov. I've gotta say, this was a super cool scene. We got big ratings on this one. Zilya and John Davies -- who was, coincidentally, the next person to die -- got into a fight in the school's boiler room. Well, this and that happened and then... KABOOOOOOM!"

He paused for a minute to compose his laughter again.

"It blew up Zilya! It blew up John! It blew up Ali Grayston and Gregg Archer because they picked the wrong room to hide in! All in one glorious display of fireworks! Bahahahaha!"

"Moving right along, then..." he uttered after a moment, "Oliver Dodd got killed by Damien Carter-Madison. The only good Dodd is a dead Dodd, I always say. Next to die was Andi Ayala. Peter used him and abused him, folks. For those of you who don't know, allow me to let you in on the latest island gossip. Apparently, Andi and Peter got off on the idea of screwing on the island. Hey, we don't mind here at Headquarters, that Grade A porno stuff sells like crazy, especially when the two people in it die horrible deaths at the end. Basically, they slept together, then Peter killed Andi. After that, Peter Rosenthal killed himself. Boo hoo, so sad."

"Next up was Felix Travertil. Man, this was one messed up scene. Seth Mattlock shot him, then Bryan Calvert kicked him off the roof and through the skylight, killing him. Now, I'm a fan of letting you guys suffer for as long as possible, but man, I gotta tell you, it was cool stuff. Anyway, then there was this big long heartfelt train of bullshit between Calvert and Seth, seeing as Seth was the big boss man and all that. Long story short, good ole' B.C. killed Seth Mattlock at his request. Such a kind, caring soul you are, Mr. Calvert."

Danya smirked.

"Next to die was Kayla Ravoy. This girl really was dumb. She showed up near the school where Matt Drew, Jana Brown, and Sera Wingfield were. Well, they told her to leave, and she refused. Why the hell would you refuse? Either way, Matt didn't take too kindly to this broad telling him no, and so Kayla made her way onto our list of the dead via a bullet to the head. Next up was Mr. Huy Tran, in a truly tragic and heartwrenching scene. I cried. Bahaha."

"They thought they could beat the game, but they couldn't even coexist with one another. Huy teamed up with Whitney Acosta, Ricky Callahan, and Anna Dibenidetti and barricaded themselves in a house. Basically, Huy decided to be a gentleman and go check on Anna in her sleep. Know what he got for his troubles? SLASH! An axe to the chest by Anna. Totally brutal. Anna boohooed for a while after that and then killed herself, making her the next person to die."

"Meanwhile, Damien Carter-Madison was off getting his final retribution against the only remaining bully on the island, Mr. Roland Kelly. It was quick and simple, and quite frankly, I was disappointed. Shooting him in the head, Damien? You should've made him die slowly... painfully. But, whatever. He's dead, and that's all that matters, eh?"

"Next down was Matt Drew... in quite the literal sense, too. Hehe. Let's just say that Sera Wingfield took him to heaven before she sent him to hell. Hey, she was good to the man. At least she just shot him in the head. He didn't even know she killed him, it was sort of sad. She didn't live too much longer after that, herself. She ran into Gail Smith outside the school building, the two exchanged words, yadda yadda, basically, Gail Smith and Sera Wingfield killed one another in a gunfight to the death."

"Next was Justin Moore, and I've got to tell you, this guy has the worst luck I've seen in my life. I'll give you the short version. He tripped on a knife, stabbed himself in the gut, stumbled around for a while, fell down a manhole, broke his neck, began drowning in sewer water, and then his collar detonated. How's THAT for karma? Hope nobody used a toilet lately, otherwise you helped kill him, you sick bastards. Hahaha."

"All right... the last three to die were Franco Sebberts, Blake Ross, and Horace Malcolm. Man, I don't know what happened in that building, but it must've been pretty bad. Somehow, the fools caused it to collapse, and they were all crushed by debris. That's a hell of a way to enter Endgame, eh? That's right, you heard me correctly. We're down to the final ten now. Only nine more people have to die, and one of you gets to go home. Isn't that wonderful, kids?"

"Now, since there are so few of you left, there's certainly no need for all this space, is there? From now on, there will be only three safe zones on the island. Those zones will be the park, the hospital, and the school. All other areas are permanent dangerzones and must be evacuated immediately. In other words, get the hell out before we blow your collars. Hahaha. Fight on, little warriors, and keep the slaughter going! You're almost home free!"

Eighth Announcement
Eight days ago, four different schools in the city of Denton, New Jersey, set out on four various trips. Only, they'd never return home. En route to their destinations, the classes were abducted by a brigade of terrorists scouting the newest "talent" for their reality game show: a vicious game known as Survival of the Fittest. The premise of the game was simple. Kill or be killed. The strong will live, the weak must die. That was their slogan. Students from all four schools were fitted with explosive collars, designated weapons and daypacks, thrown onto an uncharted island, and forced to fight until only one remained standing.

To date, five remain.

Those five are Bathurst High School's Bryan Calvert, Tori Johnson, and Mariavel Varella and Franklyn Senior High School's Ricky Callahan and Whitney Acosta. Of the remaining five, the only student officially designated as a "player" is Mariavel Varella. Others, most notably Bryan Calvert, have been categorized as "playing selectively". Students such as Tori Johnson and Whitney Acosta have been labelled as "non-players" and are predicted to be fodder for one of the more ambitious competitors. The projected winner, according to various internet polls across the world, is Mariavel Varella, the only member of the competition still outright playing the game. However, in a game like Survival of the Fittest, you never know what's going to happen, and sometimes, dumb luck beats insanity and survival instincts.

It was getting dark outside on the island, and the eerie silence that had enshrouded the entirety of the island was perhaps even more chilling than the echoes of screaming and gunfire. When the public access system set up across the island suddenly squawked to life, it shattered the silence and, quite possibly, startled more than a few of the remaining contestants. The sound of a throat clearing reverberated in the microphone of the public access system for just a moment before the quirky, cheerful voice that the remaining contestants had to be familiar with by now spoke up into the microphone.

"Good evening, children. What a wonderful night it is. Just look at those stars. Aren't they stunning? For most of you, it will probably be the last night you ever see them, so take a good, long look. But, not too long now. I want you to put up a fight. Congratulations, boys and girls, you are Survival of the Fittest's last five contestants remaining. I'm sure most of you have figured that out by now. Surely you've stumbled upon the bodies of the most recently killed contestants in such a limited playing field... but, if you haven't, please allow me to clue you in on who that corpse you just stepped on was."

He chuckled to himself as he stared down at the rather short list of names in front of him. He was almost disappointed at how the game seemed to have suddenly stalemated in the final hours, and for a while, he'd considered randomly detonating one of the contestants' collars just to spice things up a bit, but had ultimately decided against it. They always seemed to lose ratings after the first collar of the season was blown up.

"Early this morning, the first of the final ten, a Miss Jana Brown met her demise at the hand of Rob Adams. It was almost sad, the way she tried to escape the gunfight between Rob and Miss Varella, and instead, wound up running, quite literally, right into the barrel of Rob's gun. Definite case of wrong place, wrong time, sweetheart. But, on the bright side, your brother is still around to share your legacy, because, and I guess you'll never get to hear this, he was never on the island to begin with."

"Things didn't quite come to an end in the park when Jana was tagged as a casualty. When dear Robbie realized what he had done, he was devastated, and in a fit of rage, challenged Mariavel to a fist fight. Now, if Miss Varella had been smart, she'd have shot him then and there and saved that pretty little face of hers a nasty beating. But, she didn't, so the two went round and round in a quaint little fistfight. Well, long story short, Mariavel wound up on the winning end of the fight, and in a last ditch effort not to die by some "psycho murderer" or whatever, Rob shot himself in the heart before she could strangle him to death. I'm not quite sure what he was thinking, but whatever works. Either way, Rob Adams finished as number nine in the final ten."

"Next to die, finishing eighth overall, was Elizabeth Ebert. It seems dear Elizabeth had been hiding in the bushes when Jana died, and throughout the gunfight between Mariavel and Rob. She saw Mariavel kill Jana, and she saw Rob die, and the crazy little girl decided she'd be Wonder Woman and kill Mariavel before she could kill anybody else. The funny thing was, Beth didn't have a weapon. She charged out at Mariavel, who promptly laid her flat with Jana's crossbow. Miss Varella was on quite the roll this morning. I mean, she killed two of the final ten herself and was indirectly responsible for the death of another of the final ten. Kudos, darling."

"Moving right along, though, Vesa Turunen was the next name on our list of kills, offed by another fan favorite, Damien Carter-Madison. What a fight, let me tell you. Even I thought that the Dame was going to be crushed to death by the giant that was Vesa Turunen, and how differently things turned out. Size doesn't matter in this game, kids. This fight was a fine example of that. Damien claimed victory in the battle, and even granted Vesa's dying wish of covering his body with that wretched flag he carried around with him. I'm quite impressed, Mr. Madison. Your mother would be proud."

"But, oh..." Danya continued in a mock melancholy voice, "You'll never be able to hear those words, will you? You see, kids, Damien Carter-Madison was #113th to die in this round of Survival of the Fittest. After a very bloody and painful battle with Mariavel Varella outside of the schoolhouse, Damien managed to stumble all the way to the park, all the way back to the bench where he'd killed Roland Kelly not all that long ago, and he died there, of blood loss, on that bench. Damien's death put us at the final five for this competition, and that, children, is you all."

Danya couldn't help but smile inwardly to himself. Survival of the Fittest was coming to an end once again, and soon, a new winner would emerge from the island. A new winner would shake his hand. Danya's own fingers subconsciously reached up to run his fingertips along the quite visible scar he'd received during his last meeting with a winner of the game, but instead of a frown, a quite devious smile formed across his face. After all, he had such fond memories of that other contestant. He couldn't help but grin with glee when he wondered how this new winner might react to their long-awaited meeting.

"And so, what now, kids? Five of you remain. If none of you die in the next twenty-four hours, you all die. So, I ask you, look back at your time on the island. Look back at your time before. For four of you, you have, at most, twenty-four hours to live. What is it that you will do to make an impact on this game? Mariavel Varella, you've been fighting your whole life. What's another twenty-four hours? Will it be you that eliminates the rest of the competition and emerges as the victor this round? Bryan Calvert... what are your intentions? Only one of you can win, you know. Will it be you... or Tori? What about you, Tori Johnson? Are you willing to die so that Bryan can live? Are you willing to live with yourself knowing that he'll die? You, Ricky Callahan, you claim you've made your choice, but when push comes to shove, would you really kill yourself to save her? Whitney Acosta, will you let him sacrifice himself for you? Is your opinion of yourself so high and mighty that his life means nothing?"

"These are the questions you have to ask yourself, kids, and the answers won't come easy. Within the next twenty-four hours, all but one of you will probably be dead. Make peace with whatever God you believe in now, because time is of the essence. Say your goodbyes, because only one of you is going home. In light of the fact that only five of you remain, the park will now become a dangerzone. When the sun rises tomorrow morning, the hospital will also become a dangerzone. Your final playing field will be the schoolhouse... so appropriate, isn't it? School was the place where it all started, and school is the place it'll end. Congratulations on making it this far, children, and I believe one of the other contestants had the right mindset when she stated... the world is watching."